I recently stumbled upon an inspirational quote that goes something like this, “Not having enough time, isn’t the problem. We all have exactly 24 hours in a day. The problem is simply a lack of direction.”

Initially, upon reading this, I’d have sworn that I definitively disagreed; I was, in fact, rather offended and more than a little put-off. (Which now, in hindsight, I find especially interesting and relatively amusing, seeing as how the quote hadn’t been specifically directed at, nor intended for, me, personally -per se’.) And yet, since then, I’ve found myself struggling with this ‘message’; it has continued to ruthlessly pervade my conscious thoughts (and perhaps my subconscious thoughts, as well). …Until, apparently, I’ve now finally reached a point at where I’ve given the words their due recognition, consideration, speculation, and credence, and am able to admit that it just might be true, after all. *sigh*

Needless to say, I’m not altogether content with the somewhat accusational implications of this particular reflection/revelation, but… I do have to concede that it has forced me to think, challenged me to reevaluate my day-to-day routine (or lack thereof), and provided me with both- valuable insight and motivation. For this, I’m genuinely grateful.

Yesterday, in a disturbing report published on CNET, new documents obtained by EPIC reveal that Obama administration officials have authorized a new government program involving the interception of communications on Internet service providers, including AT&T —one of the key players in the NSA warrantless wiretapping program.Under long-standing federal law, the government needs to use legal process to compel service providers to hand over customer communications, yet reportedly, the government is promising these companies they will not to prosecute them for violating US wiretapping laws if they hand over the information voluntarily. And the secret surveillance authorization seems quite broad, touching on huge swaths of private, domestic activity:The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors’ Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12.CNET reported also that the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Defense were “deeply involved in press for the secret legal authorization” further underscoring widespread worries that the military may be given access to Americans’ personal information through cybersecurity operations. The report comes as Congress is debating CISPA, a dangerous bill that carves a “cybersecurity” loophole in all our privacy laws.While we are still sifting through the more than thousand pages of documents—obtained by EPIC Privacy through the Freedom of Information Act and posted to their website—the most controversial aspect of this program seems to be that the government has not used legal process to obtain Internet traffic from AT&T and other ISPs involved in the program. Instead, the Justice Department has handed them what the Justice Department calls a “2511 letter”—named after a section of the Wiretap Act—which purports to immunize them from prosecution.Section 2511 makes it a crime to wiretap—intercept electronic communications—with some exceptions, like a properly issued warranted. It provides no exception for a letter from the Justice Department. CNET reported an industry representative told them “the 2511 letters provided legal immunity to the providers by agreeing not to prosecute for criminal violations of the Wiretap Act. It’s not clear how many 2511 letters were issued by the Justice Department.”Beyond what CNET reported, we still need to analyze these new documents to determine how pervasive this surveillance is and its impact on the American public. We are currently reading them over and will have a more detailed analysis soon.

Do you believe in parallel realities?
Have you ever speculated whether it just may be possible for each of us to exist within multiple, slightly varying, universes -all at once?
Have you ever found yourself wondering what it might be like to walk a day (perhaps a week, or maybe a month) in one of your “alternate’s” shoes …doing any, or all, of the things you currently wish you were doing, feel that you need to be doing, or even think that you should be doing, now –during this life, in this specific reality?

If you were able to live out your life as a different version of yourself…
1) What is at least one goal or accomplishment you’d aim to achieve?
2) Is there anything you can think of that you would consciously do differently?